Anti-social behaviour incidents reducing across north west

Anti-social behaviour rates across the local Derry City & Strabane District Council area have fallen significantly over the past six months, it has been confirmed.
Seized drugs pictured at the launch of a previous police campaign. The availability of drugs was raised during the meeting.Seized drugs pictured at the launch of a previous police campaign. The availability of drugs was raised during the meeting.
Seized drugs pictured at the launch of a previous police campaign. The availability of drugs was raised during the meeting.

However, the local PSNI outcome rate in relation to crimes across the city and district, are now considered the highest across Northern Ireland.

The figures were released as the Policing Committee of Derry & Strabane Policing and Community Safety Partnership (PCSP) met with the PSNI Senior Team on Monday to discuss the District Commander’s latest six month report.

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At the meeting, members of the Policing Committee raised issues such as response times, engagement with victims and anti-social behaviour. Other issues raised included drugs availability, hate crime and domestic and sexual violence.

In a joint statement issued after the meeting, Alderman Mary Hamilton (PCSP chair) and Patsy McGonagle (PCSP vice-chair) described it as having been “positive and constructive,” with police presenting their report on crime in the district for the first six months of this financial year.

“Officers advised us of progress against the targets set out in the Local Policing Plan for 2018/19,” the report stated.

“The members welcomed the overall 1.2% reduction in crime in the council area over this period, equating to 54 fewer victims of crime. Members also noted that Anti-Social Behaviour has reduced by 8.4% and the local police outcome rate of 30.7% is the highest across all 11 council areas.”

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Both the PCSP members and PSNI acknowledged the “positive partnerships” and “collective approach” to tacking crime and increasing community safety in the district.

Police thanked the PCSP, statutory partners, community groups and the general public for contributing to this “encouraging reduction.”

“Behind these statistics are victims and we will continue to work with the police to ensure that their needs are met and that PSNI, locally, continues to deliver positive outcomes for all our citizens,” Mrs Hamilton and Mr McGonagle said, adding: “PCSP members reaffirmed their commitment to continue to support the police to tackle crime and also to monitor police performance in the coming year.

“Overall, the District Commander’s report for this period is positive but there is also a number of areas where we need to work to improve performance and members will continue to monitor these areas over the coming months.

“We would thank all the partners involved in making our communities safer places to live, work and visit.”